Watching It Happen
Psalm 119:9 – 15:
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
Sometimes I feel like I live in a bubble – a Christian bubble. I am surrounded by Christians. Because of the work I do – studying and teaching God’s word, the people I come into contact with are usually believers in God. Perhaps they are not born again Christians but we agree on a set of values based on Biblical principles.
I am not unaware of what’s happening in the world, I read the newspaper everyday (the printed version) and I do take a look at online news sometimes. However, I don’t have cable so I never see any TV shows. We watch movies (we’re big fans of Netflix) but we can be choosey about those.
This morning our local paper had an article about “Sister Wives”, a reality TV show based on the polygamous marriage of a Mormon man and his five wives and 16 children. I’m so out of touch that I thought this was illegal. I guess it is if you actually legally marry all five. This man hasn’t but they live and act as polygamists.
Who watches this stuff? How real can it be? Any woman who loves her husband cannot be in favor of this kind of marriage. How much pain must it bring to watch your husband show affection for another? I have talked about this in a previous post (Keep the Law) pointing out that in 1 Samuel 1 neither Hannah nor Peninnah were happy in their marriage to Elkanah. This is not just man’s law but God’s law. A man is to leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife – not his wives.
Even in the English Standard version, a newer translation of the Bible, it says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24 How is that special if a man becomes one flesh with many women? People who practice polygamy have no Biblical grounds to stand on. Though the Bible does record many cases of men with concubines and multiple wives – it never condones it. I am afraid that by giving this show a spotlight our culture is now condoning it.
It used to be that when I got a chance to watch TV I was appalled at how the language had gone down hill or how brazen the commercials had become selling anything and everything at any hour. Now, it’s whole shows. “Teen Moms” glorifying out of wedlock babies and “Big Love” – another multiple spouse display of the disregard for anything wholesome and entertaining.
What are we doing to the next generation? They will have no idea what is right and pure unless someone starts to speak out and say what needs to be said. These forms of “entertainment” are also teaching tools. They send a clear message that anything goes and it’s all good and we are to be tolerant of everyone else’s choices. We are definitely walking in the counsel of the ungodly (Psalm 1:1) when we base our cultural standards on what’s promoted on TV.
I will say that they have the right to choose these lifestyles in our country. But I also have the right to believe that God has intended only good and blessing for the people who choose to live according to His Word. I stand on my right – not just to turn it off – but to warn others that this is not what God has intended. If we believe it or not – He has created us and knows what is good for us. If we support this kind of television, we are telling the world that God’s Word doesn’t matter.
His Word is a lamp to our feet and light for our path. He clearly says in Psalm 1 that the blessed man delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night. These shows have no regard for God or for His laws. Their disregard is seeping into society and slowly but surely turning the minds of our young away from the Lord.
Parents, are we paying attention? Do we have the courage of our convictions to say, “Not in my house?” Are we willing to replace the lies with truth in our children’s minds? The only way to keep the lives of our young ones pure is to teach them to love and obey God’s Word (Psalm 119:9). How are we planning to do that? I can tell you that it won’t be in front of “Teen Moms” or “Sister Wives.”
I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless. Psalm 101 2b- 3a